PF2023 Brochure - Flipbook - Page 19
claustrophobia without the resulting work
being itself dull and limited? I settled on the
device of variation form as it seemed to mirror
the way obsessive thoughts and longings
tumble around in one’s head during periods
of isolation whilst allow the darker moments
to be quickly offset by calmer and more
reflective music.
As the variations (whose titles hopefully
speak for themselves) do not conform to a
strict plan but rather develop facets heard
in the epilogue alongside new fragments
picked up through the course of the piece, I
decided to use the looser term ‘variants’. This
term now has the unintended connotation of
a ‘mutation’ but there is, ironically, a parallel in
the way music often seems to grow and adapt
out of its own forms.
Variants of Solitude was commissioned by
Mark and Vanessa Welling.
James Francis Brown
The release in late 2018 by Resonus Classics of the CD The
Heavens and the Heart, conducted by George Vass, has
confirmed James Francis Brown’s reputation for highly
sophisticated and energetic works which have seen
his following grow rapidly in recent years as audiences
respond to his rare ability to imbue the traditional
tonal landscape of classical music with a fresh sense of
purpose. This recent recording immediately gained two
broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and prompted Guy Rickards,
in Gramophone magazine, to say, ‘This new release from
Resonus is the first of any of his orchestral works, and
what a disc it is! The Trio Concertante … is a glorious
single-movement triple concerto for violin, viola and
cello that belongs in the topmost rank of British stringorchestral music.’ His music covers a wide range of genres
featuring chamber ensembles, choirs and orchestras
and it is regularly performed by many of today’s leading
musicians, including Steven Isserlis, Tasmin Little, Emma
Johnson, the Badke Quartet, Jack Liebeck and many of
the major orchestras throughout the UK. A recording
by members of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome was
released in 2019. ‘Seldom does one hear new music
that marries such daunting technical skill and virtuosic
demands with so much ease and life-affirming joy …’
(Mark Lehman, American Record Guide, 2012).
19